Nolan's Birth Story

Nolan was well worth the wait. John and I prayed for this to happen. You see, I had some minor fertility problems. I was not ovulating. No egg = no baby! I went on 3 months of birth control to regulate my monthly flow. I would have "george" come visit once a month, but still I did not ovulate. I went on 100mg of clomid and still did not ovulate. My doctor upped my dosage to 150mg and I ovulated!! Still no baby! The third time was a charm. I took 150mg of clomid again and became pregnant! Woo-HOO!!! Now, fast forward to August 2004. I had gestational diabetes and pregnancy induced hypertension. Both were under control, but after a stress test I had earlier in the week the doctor and I decided to have my labor induced. On August 5, 2004 John took me to eat at my favorite chinese restaurant before we checked into the hospital that evening.
We checked in around 8:30PM and I got the L&D room I wanted. (I saw this one during our hospital tour.) We had the biggest one the hospital offered. It was spacious and didn't feel like the walls were enclosing around you. I changed into the "Shrek Look-A-Like" hospital gown and soon had blood work drawn and an IV started. They strapped the monitors on to check out me and the baby. My Doctor came in around 10pm and said that they would start me on pitocin (the devil's drug I would later call it.) They did not want to give me Cytotex to soften my cervix because my Doctor didn't like my blood pressure being high. She had explained that they could control my contractions and turn off the pitocin if necessary, but they wouldn't be able to if they gave me the cytotex. By 11:30 pm I fell asleep. I woke up shortly after 5am and noticed my bed was wet. I woke up John and told him either I just wet the bed or my water broke. We paged the nurses and they had me in a clean bed and shrek gown within minutes. I was having contractions, but they were hardly noticeable at this time. Piece of cake FOR NOW!
My Doctor came in early around 7:00AM and broke my water all the way. Apparently, I hadn't officially broke my water completely. It couldn't have been more than 30 minutes and I wanted MY mommy!! The labor pain was definitely hitting me like a baseball bat to the back! The devil drug AKA pitocin was making me have one contraction after another. My family soon arrived and helped me keep my spirits up. I remember my sister and my mom rubbing my back. It seems like a fuzzy dream now. I remember my mom saying that this is the only pain you get a reward for....a baby!


Soon, I asked for something to take the edge off the contractions....they claimed to have given me something, but I don't remember there being any difference at all on the pain. I was having back labor and it hurt like a kidney stone. My doctor kept checking to see how much I dilated. Unfortunately, it was moving slow and Nolan was carrying high. Sometime after Noon I asked for an epidural. I was at 4 1/2 to 5 cm dilated. OF COURSE...I was the last lady who asked for one and therefore I was the last to get it. Originally, I was petrified to get an epidural prior to being in labor. I HATE needles! I soon was praying for it and it did become my best friend the next few hours. The anesthesiologist was going through his speech about the epidural and I told him just to do it! I really didn't feel a thing. The labor pain was all that was on my mind. Within 2 minutes I felt soooooooooo much better.
I was being monitored closely the next few hours because every time I had a contraction Nolan's heart rate went down and would not recover as fast as the hospital staff would like. We even turned the pitocin off to give little Nolan a break for 30 minutes and then restart it. Unfortunately, his heart just couldn't handle the stress with each contraction. Around 4:00pm my Doctor strongly suggested a C-section. I was disappointed yet concerned for Nolan, so my husband and myself agreed to the C-section. I was shaved....yes, shaved a bit down there. It is a bikini cut incision really low! LOL, Like I would wear a bikini! John was asked to change into his scrubs and they would come get him when they had me prepared for surgery. They strapped my arms down and placed a huge sheet draped in front of me. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I remember them taking a paperclip like thing and asking if I could feel them poking me with it. I did at first, then I didn't feel a thing. My husband came in and the surgery started immediately. The one thing I remember during the C-section was the pressure I felt from the nurses pushing down on my belly. I really thought my lungs were going to come out of my mouth. I felt like the wind was being knocked out me with each push and pull. Finally at 4:47pm on August 6, 2004 Nolan was born. My husband had tears in his eyes. I think he was happy he didn't pass out....he turned the color of his scrubs for the first minute of the surgery and I remember asking him if HE WAS OK. After I was introduced to my little miracle, I told my husband to go with him and that I would be fine. I would find time to bond with Nolan shortly after we both recovered from our unexpected surgery.

I had all sorts of emotions running through me while I was in the recovery room. It is strange not to be able to even wiggle your toes while recovering. I was happy, scared, excited, anxious, and full of wonderment! About 90 minutes after Nolan was born we were reunited. We did skin-to-skin contact and breastfed. Our families stayed for a few minutes and then it was just the three of us.....it would be that way until another miracle was born and that my friends is another story.